Sonic Forces: Squad 13
by Lordius Dannius
Summary: Before the war broke out, Jackal Squad coexisted with a rival squad of foxes. They fought with respect for one another, but when the leader of Jackal Squad chose to abandon his morals and ally his squad with Dr Eggman, he showed himself to be a monster. Was the change in character destined to come? And what became of jackal squad's close rivals?
1. Rivals

_**Sonic Forces: Squad 13**_

 **~1: Rivals~**

"Here," spoke a beige-furred Tibetan sand fox with messy silver hair held back with a black head bandanna, his yellow eyes glancing back at the group of other foxes behind him. "Our employer gave us the coordinates to this old factory. Our target is in here." The fox turned around to fully face his squad. "You know our orders, Fox Squad: apprehend the target and bring him back alive. A dead thylacine is no use to anybody." Once more he turned around, before kicking the door as hard as he could to bust it open. Immediately he and his squad prepared for a fight, only to be met with a dark interior.

The squad leader gestured silently, directing a pale fox, with a white tuft of head hair and goggles upon his head, to scout ahead. The younger fox nodded and wandered inside, eyeing his surroundings before looking back at the fox in command, shrugging his shoulders to suggest that there was nothing. Just before the group could drop their guard, however, the brown thylacine in tattered brown pants, shoes and gloves suddenly tackled the pale fox to the ground.

"Dune!" yelled another small fox accompanying the group, with an orange tuft of hair as opposed to white along with smaller fox ears. His light blue eyes filled with worry.

"Darn it," cursed the group leader. "Blizzard, engage! Everyone else, surround the perimeter so that our bounty can't escape!"

The other foxes spread out, making sure that the thylacine had no way of escaping in case he decided to flee. As the foxes got into formation, the white Arctic fox swiftly made his way behind the target and immediately wrestled him to the ground, managing to pull him away from Dune with ease.

"Thorn! Crimson! Let's take this guy out together!" Blizzard called to two more foxes, one being light brown with black hair upon his head between his large ears while the other fox was red with spiked tufts of hair of the same shade, his accessories, shoes and gloves consisting of spikes. The two foxes instantly obeyed the white-furred associate as Dune stepped back to guard one of the now-empty spaces to prevent the thylacine from escaping.

Blizzard, Thorn and Crimson all worked together to physically fight the thylacine, with their opponent putting up a surprisingly good fight, though that was expected. Nobody had managed to capture this guy in the past, but Fox Squad had strength in numbers.

At some point the thylacine chose to bite Thorn in the shoulder, then grabbing Crimson and throwing him into the Bengal fox. Blizzard bared his teeth and kicked the thylacine across the face, knocking him to the ground before straddling his back. "Got him," the Arctic fox announced proudly.

River, the Tibetan sand fox and leader of the group, nodded his head with approval and stepped forward, gesturing for the others to remain where they were. As he approached Blizzard and the apprehended thylacine, however, a throwing knife zipped past his head. River immediately assumed a defensive stance, with the other foxes also looking prepared to fight as they knew what was coming.

Out of the darkness, from the higher level of the factory, a group of jackals jumped down. One of the jackals wore a red bandanna, light brown shoes and gloves and a belt of throwing knives across his chest. Another jackal wore a red hat and bandages. The third jackal wore a green cloth around his head and had a scar across his nose. A female jackal jumped down wearing a green vest and brown pants. Two more male jackals jumped down, one wielding a large knife-like sword, but River had his eyes out for the final jackal who had not yet shown himself.

Nippy, the swift fox with the tuft of orange hair, stood warily in front of a window. He was staring with wide eyes, also aware that the last jackal wasn't present, but he had completely forgotten that he was standing in front of a window. That was where the final jackal came from, swooping in and breaking the glass with his black-shod feet, taking Nippy out in the process. The other foxes all quickly turned their heads as they watched the scar-faced jackal pounce forward suddenly, his mismatched eyes locked onto River. Luckily River flipped out of the way, watching as the jackal landed in a crouching position.

"Zero," River growled, narrowing his yellow eyes as the black-furred jackal arose to his feet. "I was wondering when you and your squad would get in our way again."

"As usual, River, you forgot to cover your tracks," the jackal, Zero, responded quietly. "Rang has been a target of ours for some time. Unlike you, we didn't have the leisure of following specific coordinates, but we were lucky to discover that such an incompetent squad such as yours was tracking him down."

"It's too late," Blizzard spoke up, still holding Rang down. "We've already got him."

"We never established a rule where we couldn't steal bounty from each other's squads," Zero responded smugly, but a smile never appeared on his muzzle. "I suggest you hand him over, unless you wish to turn this factory into a fox graveyard."

"There are twelve of us and seven of you," River reminded him. "We have guns, you have blades."

"Yet we've beaten you before," Zero countered.

"Why are we just standing here talking?" asked Thorn, who now stood up with Crimson beside him. "Let's send these jackrabbits back into the burrow!"

"I can agree with your associate, River," Zero said coldly, pointing his red sword. "Let's settle this with actions, not words."

"Hmph," grunted River. "Blizzard, Sandy, Nippy, Dune. I want the four of you to keep our target guarded. Eight against seven seems like a fairer fight."

"Now that's just insulting," Zero scoffed, suddenly dashing forward with his sword ready to strike. River knew Zero would make such a swift move and quickly whipped out his gun, which looked a lot like a type of Wispon but perhaps not running on the same power. He was able to block the strike just by holding the weapon, then shooting Zero in the chest with the least fatal blast he could muster. Still, Zero was sent back into one of his fellow squad mates, prompting the female jackal to leap onto River, baring her teeth.

Thorn took out two small guns which looked much weaker than River's, shooting various pulse shots at the jackal. She flinched and hopped back, now beside Zero, but as she did that her knife-throwing companion threw three knives in Thorn's direction, with one knife catching him across his side.

Two female foxes then jumped out, one being relatively small, swift and tomboyish with the primary colour of brown (in both fur and clothing), while the other was white and feminine, wearing a black dress while her yellow-coloured hair was kept pinned behind her head. Together the foxes tackled the other the two jackals, both parties engaging in one-on-one wrestling.

Crimson chose to tackle the jackal with the green head bandanna, showing a level of aggression which his opponent wasn't quite reflecting.

"Not in the best of moods, I see," the jackal mocked, almost sounding playful.

"Not now, Striker," Crimson spat fiercely, aiming to punch his foe across the face. The jackal, Striker, ducked swiftly in order to avoid the attack.

Zero bared his sharp teeth before glaring at the female jackal beside him. "Kali, take out the Kit fox," he commanded. "Null and Blank will keep Silk and Mini occupied, and I trust Anubis and Barrett to keep the rest at bay."

"You have a plan?" Kali asked her leader, her eyes locking onto the orange Kit fox with floppy white hair. He was going to be an easy target for her.

"I always have a plan," Zero told her simply. "Now go!" Kali nodded her head once before zipping towards her target, bringing him to the ground in the blink of an eye. As she did that, River attempted to shoot her in order to protect his own squad mate, but Zero used his red sword to strike his gun from his grasp. River's yellow eyes narrowed as he cautiously began to step back.

"You never listen, you old fool," Zero hissed, raising his sword again, but before he could even bring his weapon down, he found that he was no longer even holding it, seeing that it had been shot out of his hand. The blue and yellow-eyed jackal scowled upon seeing Blizzard standing with his hands pointed in his direction, having fired lasers from his wrist gauntlets.

"Go and stand guard with the other three," the Arctic fox commanded, his blue eyes never once leaving Zero. "I'll keep Zero distracted and get your weapon back, then we can switch back."

River couldn't help but look worried for the younger fox, but nodded his head. "Don't fall for his tricks," he warned before sprinting back to the three foxes guarding Rang. Zero actually had the decency to let River leave first before continuing the fight, but before making a move he let out a quiet chuckle.

"I like your courage, child," he said in a condescending manner, "but I remembered how foolish you were the moment you explained your entire plan right before me." Blizzard glowered.

"Then I'll speak no more," he mumbled loud enough for the Jackal Squad leader to hear, firing some more laser pulses straight from his gauntlets. Zero barely even moved his head to avoid the energy bullets, then opening his arms out calmly as if challenging the white fox.

"I'm unarmed," he reminded before smirking slightly, "yet you cannot even hit me."

"Shut up!" Blizzard snapped, dashing forward and aiming another shot towards Zero's chest, only to have his wrist grabbed and aimed in another direction. At first Blizzard assumed that Zero had just pointed his hand in any random direction before he heard River let out a painful snarl. Blizzard's ears perked as he stared in shock, seeing that his own attack had wounded his leader.

Zero threw Blizzard to the floor and began walking towards the group which surrounded his thylacine target, but Blizzard was not done yet. He remembered River's gun and chose to run for it – a move predicted by Zero. The Arctic fox grabbed the gun and threw it towards River, but the weapon was instead caught by the approaching jackal. Zero turned his head slowly, grinning very slightly as he gazed upon Blizzard's face of horror.

"How predictable," Zero mocked, turning the weapon on the four foxes now at his mercy. Dune jumped up and attempted to take Zero on in physical combat, but Zero brought a knee to the pale fox's stomach to knock the air out of his system, thus easily bringing the young fox to the ground. Both Zero and River locked eyes, with River glaring painfully and Zero staring triumphantly, in what looked like a scene which may result in the end of River's life, but Zero then held his hand down, offering it to River. River's glare remained and he didn't move for a few moments before he chose to push Zero's hand aside, staggering to his feet without his aid.

"Again?" came Sandy's voice of disbelief. "I don't get it! It feels like we're letting them win every single time!"

"In a fight to the death I would be dead by now," River told the fennec. "Our other squad mates are injured or in combat, I'm disarmed and Zero has the four of us at his mercy. They've won."

"We win again?" Striker grinned from where he stood, with Crimson a few feet away from him with a deadly glare on his face. "Awesome!"

"Stop rubbing it in our faces," Crimson snarled through his teeth.

"We keep winning because we're all fighters," Zero informed River, hoisting Rang up to his feet harshly. "Your squad consists of inexperienced children, River, and many of them are not fighters at all." He gestured to Nippy, the swift fox with the orange tuft of fur upon his head and scarf around his neck, and said, "Take him, for example. He looks like he should be in a Chao garden." The Jackal Squad leader then gestured towards the light-brown Blanford's fox who stood at the mercy of Null and said, "Or Cliff. Not once have I seen him come out victorious in a fight, and by appearance alone one can easily tell that he specializes in intelligence." Zero's fact was backed up by the fact that Cliff wore an earpiece and didn't have any fighting equipment. Not even his red gloves made him appear threatening. "If your squad contained experienced fighters, then maybe you'd stand a chance."

River dusted himself off, tending to the wound on his arm caused by Blizzard's gauntlet. "So, who are you working for this time?" he asked, dismissing the lecture he had just been given. "Another group looking to sell this guy?"

"No," Zero answered, untying Rang. "We work for him."

"Indeed," spoke Barrett, the jackal wearing the red hat, as he walked closer. "Rang's a long-term client of ours. Any time he needs us, we come to his aid."

"That's awfully proud, coming from the squad responsible for holding a rich man's daughter hostage until he payed a good enough sum of money for her safe return," Thorn called out as he tended to his own knife wound. Anubis pat his back, causing the fox to grimace in pain.

"Don't talk like you foxes are anymore innocent than we are," he warned. "At least we returned that girl in one-piece." Thorn shrugged his shoulders, managing to contain a chuckle.

"We still returned our hostage alive," he defended.

"We'll be leaving now," Zero spoke up, his tail swishing from side to side slowly as he spoke. "We'll likely meet again in the near future, but by then I expect more of a challenge."

"Farewell to you, too," River grumbled sarcastically. Zero didn't look back at him again as he left the factory, with his squad following close behind with Rang also walking with them.

Blizzard sat himself up, shaking his head quickly. "Darn it all…" he cursed. "That was all my fault…"

Thorn was the one who helped Blizzard back up to his feet. "I mean, we all did kinda hear you announce your plan," he pointed out, "but we wouldn't have done much better."

"You made the correct move," River added, "but Zero was right; if you hadn't discussed your plans like that, we could have stood a chance."

"I know," Blizzard sighed irritably. "I should've just told you to fall back and continue from there. You would've seen what I was up to without me telling you."

"And Zero would have, too," River mentioned. "He's strong and experienced and he gets better every time. He can read us all like books. We should be thankful that he goes easy on us; I feel nothing but sympathy for those who have to face him as a true enemy."

"Let's just hope that he never becomes ours," Blizzard hoped quietly. It was something he did think about frequently: what would happen if one day Jackal Squad was hired to annihilate Fox Squad?

 **~End of Chapter~**


	2. Robot

**~2: Robot~**

"Thanks for saving my hide back there," Rang thanked after walking for some time with the jackals. "Literally. You know what guys like them do with guys like me."

"You're forgetting that _we_ _are_ guys like them," Anubis interjected through grit teeth. "If things were different, we could've been the ones you needed saving from."

"Yeah, but you said yourselves that you wouldn't turn on me," Rang shrugged. "You've had my back for years, and in return I've given you food, money and shelter."

"Luxuries we are no longer desperate for," Barrett smirked. "Have you seen what we've been earning lately?"

"Barrett's right," smirked Kali as she stepped dangerously close to Rang. "We don't need your pity anymore, tiger."

"I'm not a tiger," Rang corrected. "Besides, if you're all so secure, then there'd be no need for you to accept any jobs involving my capture."

"We might wanna do it for fun," Barrett countered. Rang gave him an odd stare before Striker put his arm around the brown thylacine.

"The look on your face!" the jackal with the scarred-nose laughed. "We're not that bad, dude, you know that."

"Be careful what you say, Striker," Anubis warned. "If we ever get offered an overwhelming amount of treasure then we might just have to sell our friend off." Striker just rolled his eyes in response.

"Geez, Anubis, what's next, will you start accepting jobs demanding our own capture?" he asked. Anubis shrugged his shoulders.

"Perhaps," he answered.

Kali grinned while observing the little squabble which she had just taken part in, but her yellow eyes were then drawn to Zero, who had come to a stop at the edge of a cliff. The female jackal approached him curiously, first meeting his face before following his gaze to what he was staring at below. She expected to see a village or camp site, or something else worthy of raiding, but instead she saw that her leader was staring at a forest.

"The view from here is pleasant," was what he said, not taking his eyes off the lush green trees.

Hearing such words coming from the mouth of her leader only confused Kali. He usually never commented on the environment and had little interest in it, so for him to stop and stare in some sort of awe must have meant he had his mind focused on something else.

"What are you thinking about?" Kali decided to ask him. Zero simply stood with his arms folded and kept his eyes on the forest.

"There's something down there," the squad leader replied calmly. Kali tilted her head and stared, trying to see what Zero had spotted, only then seeing what looked like a silver hedgehog made of metal. It moved swiftly out of sight, and the moment it moved was the moment Zero jumped down from his current position. Nothing would stop him from taking down something he saw as a target.

"Boss!" Kali called out, looking back at her squad and the accompanying thylacine. "Don't just stand there! The boss has gone after something, so we are to follow! Is that clear?!"

"Yes!" the other five jackals answered in unison, jumping from the cliff's edge before Kali and Rang also followed.

…

Blizzard sat alone within the small hideout. He still felt so foolish after what happened. The squad had come so close to capturing that thylacine – so close to gaining a decent sum of money – but once again Jackal Squad swooped in and crashed their victory party.

Nippy zipped over to the Arctic fox, seeing that he was deliberately avoiding any interactions with the other squad members. "You look lonely over here by yourself," he observed. "Aren't you gonna grab your share of food?"

"I don't deserve it," Blizzard responded quietly, turning his head to face further away from the swift fox.

"Oh, come on, Blizz, stop being so hard on yourself!" Nippy pouted. "Nobody here could've taken on Zero. He's just so strong, and he knows all of our moves."

"It shouldn't be that way," Blizzard snapped, clenching his fists. "We can't carry on like this, Nippy. We can't just bow down to Zero whenever he jumps in front of us. We have to get stronger so that we stand a chance against him and his squad. In fact, I think most of us just need the confidence."

"I guess…" Nippy agreed quietly. "It's pretty difficult to be confident when that guy's your enemy, though."

"See? That's what I'm talking about," Blizzard pointed out. "That's exactly how we all think. We all see Zero as a threat, but I think he's better at playing mind games. He knows that we're afraid of him and he plays with that fear."

"Well, at least he won't ever _really_ hurt us too much…" Nippy shrugged. Blizzard frowned and stared into Nippy's light blue eyes.

"How can you be so sure?" he asked quietly, seeing Nippy suddenly lose his optimistic expression. "Jackal Squad is a group of mercenaries, Nippy, and so are we. If someone hired them and commanded them to take us out then of course they'd do it."

"They might do…" Nippy agreed quietly. "But… would we do that to them?" The following silence suggested that Blizzard couldn't say yes to that query, and thus Nippy's optimism returned. "You saw how they saved that thylacine. I bet that guy's a friend of theirs. If they'd save one person like that then I'm sure they'd decline any jobs requiring us being taken out."

"Perhaps," Blizzard admitted in agreement, looking away again. "I hope you're right about that, Nip. I like to think those jackals have some room in their hearts to let us live if given the chance to destroy us, considering we've helped them in the past and practically given them bounty."

"Well, the bounty we "give" to them is usually stolen from us," Nippy laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "But sometimes we take what they see as theirs, too."

"We're no longer evenly matched," Blizzard added. "That's why River's worrying about a food shortage. Twelve mouths to feed is a lot, and without a stable amount of money then we're doomed to run out of supplies. It's not like we can just give up and look for other jobs, either; I'm pretty sure we're wanted dead or alive at this point."

"Not all of us," Nippy corrected.

"Not you, perhaps," Blizzard countered. "You're never hired to do solo tasks. River's been doing jobs like this for years and is an infamous criminal. Crimson, Rock and Thorn are both well-trained assassins, with Mini and Silk being equally as tough as they are. Then, of course, there's me. I've been with River since I was a kit, and I've learned a lot from him."

"Sandy's been part of the squad for a long time, too," Nippy reminded the older fox. "He's not as…"

"Scary?" Blizzard finished for him, laughing quietly in amusement. "No. He was trained to be more like you and the other scouts." The Arctic fox frowned and glanced towards the floor, rubbing his chin. "Perhaps we should've been harsher. That way you little guys would've all become more like us."

"Hey, don't call us little," Nippy pouted. "Anyway, I'm heading back to the others. You should really come join us for some food."

"I'm good," Blizzard responded, sitting down with his arms folded. "I'll grab whatever's left later."

"Suit yourself," Nippy sighed, shrugging his shoulders before leaving the Arctic fox to his own devices.

…

"There!" Barrett called out, pointing in a particular direction ahead of him. "It went that way!" Zero wasted no time and simply bounced from tree to tree, moving as fast as he could. The silver robot was in his line of sight.

"You're mine," he murmured to himself as his eyes squinted, preparing to leap down and apprehend the machine.

The robotic hedgehog was running on foot, with its footsteps almost impossible to hear. Its silent steps were not going to save it, however, as Zero was dangerously close.

Zero pounced and landed on the robots back, easily knocking it down and pinning it on its front, holding it down by its back with one hand and its head with the other. Now he was able to examine it properly, and maybe figure out its purpose. Maybe he'd even find out how much the thing was worth.

"Hey! Paws off the spines, squishy!" the machine exclaimed, squirming in a feeble attempt to free itself. For a robot, it definitely had a lot of personality.

"Move and I'll rip out your wires," Zero threatened through his teeth as the other members of his squad approached.

"Whoa, is that Metal Sonic?" Striker asked, crouching down to look at the machine.

"No," Zero answered, keeping his target down. Now that he had it in his grasp, he could get a better look at it. It did indeed resemble Metal Sonic, with the most notable changes being to the body and the colour. Its ears, while yellow on the inside like Metal's, seemed to have much more articulation so they could move. The eyes of the robot were orange and not red, with the rest of its body being a light silver in colour. The body itself had a gold lightning bolt symbol replacing the chest hole Metal Sonic famously had, and instead of a back engine the robot had actual spines and even an articulated tail. It also wore a brown belt around the waist area where there was likely more articulation, but the most interesting feature was the machine's mouth. No robot built by Eggman, the infamous killer robot builder, had ever before been given a functioning mouth with full articulation, but this one had that. To Zero, that was something which suggested that the robotic hedgehog was new and expensive. He wasn't too knowledgeable when it came to technology, but he knew an advanced machine when he saw one.

"It looks new," the squad leader observed. "It's probably made from expensive materials. We could sell it for parts."

"Wait, what?!" the robot exclaimed. "C'mon, that's so unfair!"

"Aw, it's kinda cute," Striker mused.

"It's a robot," came Null's voice. "May as well start saying your dagger's cute, Striker."

"She is," Striker grinned, admiring his jagged dagger. Null rolled his eyes.

"It has personality," Kali pointed out, eyeing the machine. "It might be worth a lot on its own. Some crazy scientist might want it."

"Or the doctor himself might want it back," Anubis added, repeatedly throwing one of his knives into the air and catching it casually. "You know, the one who's always trying to take over the world?"

"Of course I know who he is," Zero spat. "I doubt he cares much about his machines." He looked towards Blank with his mismatched eyes. "Blank. You know enough about technology. Shut this thing down for me so we can take it back to Rang's."

"Hey, I don't want that thing in my home," Rang interrupted, earning himself a glare from Zero.

"We'll bring what we like back as long as our deal is in place," he corrected. "Unless you no longer want our protection, that is." Rang's ears flopped and he sighed, frowning slightly.

"Fine, just don't let it damage anything," he exhaled.

"Where's the off switch on this thing…?" Blank asked, mainly to himself.

"I don't have one!" the robot grinned smugly. "So you guys can't switch me off! Ha!"

"Blank, how good are you at repairing headless robots?" Zero growled, raising his red sword and preparing to bring it down. The machine beneath him beeped a less-natural sound, trying to shield himself with his arms.

"I'm decent," Blank shrugged, "but this one's pretty different from most other robots. I wouldn't risk damaging it in case it decreases its value; it looks like it hasn't even battled anything yet. It's got no scratches or anything."

Zero growled. "Fine," he mumbled. "Any idea on what we should do with it, then?"

"Consider us lucky," Blank replied, pulling something from the pouch attached to his belt. "I invented this little gadget for Metal Sonic or other robots built by the doctor. It's a collar which disables their combat function, since that in itself is its own programming. I'm sure we can use it on this thing."

"It's worth a shot," Zero told his associate, giving him the all-clear to put the collar on the robot. Blank did just that, and Zero cautiously got to his feet, stepping away from his prey. The hedgehog robot jumped up quickly and grinned.

"Fools!" it laughed. "I told you I was advanced! I don't feel different at all!" He pointed his arms and looked like he was waiting for some kind of arm laser to activate, but nothing happened. "…Um…" Thinking it would be wise to flee, the robot turned and started sprinting, but it was significantly slower. Anubis was the one to grab it, holding it firmly and easily.

"Nice going, Blank," Striker smirked, nodding towards his friend. "This makes it easier for us to deal with this thing without damaging it."

"This is so unfair!" the robot pouted. "I'll tell Eggman about this!"

"It's unfortunate we have no muzzle for it," Zero growled under his breath.

"Eggman is its master," Barrett observed. "At least that's already been confirmed.

"Oh, come on!" the robot snapped, almost embarrassed that it had let information slip so easily.

"It seems that not all wires are connected," Blank mocked. "And we don't need to worry about this thing contacting anything; that collar also disables its signals." The robot groaned in response.

"Let's get going," Kali spoke up. "It's getting dark and no doubt we're all getting hungry."

"I'll lead the way back from here," Rang said. "Follow me." The thylacine started walking and the other jackals followed, with the two lagging behind being Zero and Kali. Zero passed Kali and gave her a passive but unamused glance.

"I give the orders around here, not you," he reminded firmly, but Kali only smirked and walked after him.

"Sorry, boss," she responded sarcastically and playfully. Zero didn't like this attitude and glared at her once again, but he said nothing. Instead he just decided to continue walking.

…

Blizzard lay on his bed, now that night had fallen, but unlike the other foxes he was wide awake and staring up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. He had indeed eaten some leftovers as he said he would, but he was still hungry. Hunger wasn't what was keeping him awake, though. Instead he was thinking about Jackal Squad. All of his worries were still on his mind, but instead of feeling fear he felt determination and the need to challenge. The only true reason behind his discomfort was the fact that recently Fox Squad had been losing fights with the jackals, so all the foxes had to do was train. Everyone just had to get better at fighting. Everyone needed a boost in confidence.

Despite his worries and his rising urge to get up now and train, Blizzard knew that he needed to sleep to regain his energy. Tomorrow would be a new day.

 **~End of Chapter~**


	3. Bounty

**~3: Bounty~**

"Alright, squad," River spoke up in the early hours of morning. "Authorities in the city have been warning of a dangerous bounty hunter for months. He works alone and has never failed any of his missions. Anyone captured by him has yet to be found again, and anything stolen has no chance of being returned."

"Let me guess, we're gonna capture this guy for the authorities?" Thorn guessed. "They've probably hired him to come for us."

"We're mercenaries for hire, Thorn," River reminded him. "We've been hired because the authorities don't believe they can catch this guy lawfully. We've not been promised safety, but we've been promised a decent amount of money – enough to keep us stable for months. We've just gotta hope that Jackal Squad don't swoop in again."

"Then let's get this bounty hunter," said Rock, his beige ears twitching. "It's only one guy, right? And there's twelve of us."

"Not all of us are the best fighters," Crimson reminded with venom. "Strength doesn't come in numbers, Rock."

"Those jackals already proved that," Thorn added, rolling his eyes while he stood with his arms folded.

"We'll be fine," River assured firmly. "Twelve foxes against one bounty hunter is different compared to twelve foxes against seven jackal mercenaries."

"We should trap him!" suggested Scrub the orange-coloured kit fox. "While we're not all the best fighters, many of us are pretty handy. Some of us should focus on setting up a trap while the others should focus on luring the bounty hunter into the trap."

"Good idea, Scrub," River acknowledged, nodding his head proudly. "Alright, the squad will split up into to teams." River then looked towards Blizzard. "Blizzard, I want you to lead the attacking group."

Blizzard was slightly surprised that River was putting him in charge of the attack group, since the Tibetan sand fox was almost always the one to lead such a unit. Still, Blizzard nodded his head once to show that he was accepting the command.

"Sandy, Cliff, Scrub, Nippy, Dune; you guys are with me," River continued. "That means the rest of you are with Blizzard."

"This'll be fun," spoke Mini the cape fox as she made sure her brown jacket was zipped up. "So, what does our target look like?"

"He's a silver fox," River described, "and his name is Mercury."

"Anything else?" asked Thorn. "I don't wanna jump down on some respected silver fox in the city, I wanna make sure we get the right one immediately."

"He's got a strip of white hair going down his head and he's got red eyes," River further described. "Tuft of white fur on his head, mostly seen wearing a belt along with black gloves, black boots and a black fedora or something. You guys will know him when you see him."

"So, a suspicious looking grey fox," commented Rock thoughtfully. "There can't be too many of those around."

"My team should split up," Blizzard suggested. "We'll stay within close range of each other so that we can all meet up at a certain point if necessary. It'll make searching much faster."

"I like your thinking, Blizzard," River replied. "My team will work together to set up the trap, but it would definitely be more appropriate for your team to split."

"Then let's do this," Blizzard finalized. "Let's catch this fox and get our reward."

"Let's hope that this time we don't get interrupted by those jackals," Thorn chuckled, folding his arms. "I'm not in the mood to lose to them again."

"None of us are," River told him. "Alright, Fox Squad. Let's get out there and start setting up this trap. We'll keep in contact with one another using walkie-talkies. Remember to track the target once he's been spotted, and keep everyone up-to-date on his whereabouts."

"He won't know what hit him," Rock grinned, cracking his knuckles. He was ready to take down this bounty hunter. The task had to be done quickly to make sure that Jackal Squad didn't beat them to the bounty.

…

"So, uh, I really like your basement," spoke the silver hedgebot which was now locked beneath Rang's house, accompanied by the jackals. "Any idea how long I'll be staying here?"

"This thing talks a lot," Striker noticed as he observed the machine. "I've never seen anything like it."

"I mean, it's kinda like a little hedgehog," Barrett added, scratching just beneath his red hat. "It's acting just like a kid. You don't suppose the doctor has gone back to using roboticization technology again, do you?"

"It's possible," Blank added, folding his arms. "Maybe he roboticized a kid who kept his consciousness."

"Nope," the badnik revealed. "I've always been a robot."

"Does it have a name?" asked Anubis as he sat sharpening his throwing knives. Striker, Barrett and Blank all stared at the robotic hedgehog, expecting an answer. It noticed this and drooped its mechanical ears.

"Pressuring me to answer, huh?" he murmured. The jackals nodded, prompting the robot to sigh. "Alright, alright. My name's Metal Sniper."

"Metal Sniper, hm?" Striker grinned. "I'm guessing you specialize in shooting targets from long distances?"

"Didn't seem too good at that," Null interjected. "And why would a sniper robot be so… loud and obnoxious?"

"Yeah," Barrett agreed. "He didn't shut up for the whole walk here."

"He did have silent footsteps," Blank noted. "I definitely picked up on that while he was moving about, and when he was walking with us."

"Something tells me that he's probably a defective model," Anubis assumed, sheathing his knife as he approached the hedgebot. He watched as Sniper's mechanical ears drooped. "The old doctor has never appreciated having robots with personality and free will. This one must be defective, so maybe the doctor doesn't even want it back."

"Even so, it's still advanced," Blank reminded his associate. "Maybe the doctor was working on perfecting it before it escaped."

"Hello, I'm right here," Sniper huffed. "You can just ask me, y'know."

"You don't seem to be the cooperative type," Null hissed.

"You're right about that," Sniper smirked.

"Enough of this nonsense," Zero spoke up, stepping forward. The other jackals moved aside to allow their leader to loom over the hedgebot, who now definitely appeared to be fearful. The scar-faced jackal glared and pointed his red sword, placing the tip directly onto the golden lightning bolt marked on Sniper's metallic chest, then slowly walking so that he backed the robot against the wall. "No matter how much personality a machine seems to have, words do nothing," he continued. "It's actions that really get their response."

"U-Uh… th-that's not necessarily true," Sniper stuttered, eyeing the sword cautiously. "Most robots, um… respond to d-d-direct commands…"

"Then you're clearly not like most robots," Zero deduced, then glancing back towards Striker. "Go and inform Rang that we'll be borrowing his household electricity." A somewhat hesitant nod came from Striker as he then jogged upstairs into the main house, searching for Rang to pass on the message from Zero. The jackal squad leader then looked towards Anubis and Kali. "Kali. Anubis. Secure him to a chair or something."

Kali moved from where she was standing, distant from the rest, and approached Sniper with Anubis at her side. Zero backed off and seemed to search for something else while they dealt with the piece of Eggman technology.

"H-Hey, c'mon, I've already got the collar!" Sniper complained as the two jackals grabbed him.

Zero turned to Blank while plugging a cable into one of the wall sockets. "Tell me how much voltage that collar you invented can take until it fries," he commanded. Blank was almost surprised by such a question, knowing the path his leader was going down, but gave an answer rather than choosing to ask questions.

"I'd say it can take… maybe eight hundred volts?" he estimated, shrugging his shoulders to indicate that he didn't know the exact number.

"I'm sure seven hundred volts will be enough to get this robot talking without damaging his internal parts," Zero theorized. "Once we know enough, we'll see who we can sell him to." The jackal looked towards Sniper, who stared back at him with a look of pure terror. It didn't make him feel much better when Zero approached with the other end of the cable.

…

Blizzard and the other foxes in his team sat together on the outskirts of the city, hiding behind a large rock. "Listen," he began. "Mercury was last seen in the forest just south of here. River's group is already there setting up a trap, so once one of us tracks Mercury down, we've gotta lure him towards the ambush. The rest of us will also gather there in case he puts up a fight the others can't handle."

"They have River," Silk pointed out. "They'll be alright; it's only one guy, after all."

"We need confidence, but we shouldn't get cocky," Blizzard warned her. "We need the confidence that we can take this guy down with ease. Believing that we don't need to help River's team is taking it too far, though." The arctic fox stood up to his full height, leading the others to do the same. "Alright, squad. Let's head south and split up before we get into the forest." The other foxes nodded, and together they sprinted further away from the city.

…

Elsewhere in the woods, River sat up high on a tree branch with the other members of his group nearby. Silence was key; if Mercury was near these parts then they couldn't risk blowing their cover, or else the trap could ultimately fail.

Nobody spoke. Nobody made a sound.

But they were discovered.

A lasso was wrapped around Sandy, pulling the fennec fox down from the tree before he could even react to the situation.

"Sandy!" Cliff reacted, taking off his headphones so that he could listen to the nearby surroundings, but he found himself being knocked down when a rock hit him in the back.

River knew something wasn't right, so immediately jumped down to see who was attacking, but nobody was there.

"River!" Nippy cried out. "Get out of the way! It's Mercury!"

The young swift fox was right. Now standing upon one of the branches was Mercury the silver fox, and his signature black hat was on his head. He kicked Dune and Scrub down before throwing another rock at Nippy, and once all foxes were on the ground, he cut the rope which they had been guarding. A large weighted net dropped down onto the group, and that was when Mercury finally returned to ground level, approaching the squirming mass of foxes.

"Hmph," he reacted to the sight, sounding almost disappointed. "I thought Fox Squad would be more of a challenge for me, but I suppose you're only the lesser members." His red eyes narrowed as he stared at River. "Except you. Aren't you River, the leader of the entire squad?" A cold chuckle left his mouth. "How pathetic. Your age must really be getting to you now, if you can be outsmarted by one person."

"Darn it…" River cursed under his breath, seeing as Mercury smirked a little.

"Well, it looks like you guys worked real hard on that net," the bounty hunter noted. "You won't be going anywhere anytime soon, so I'm gonna go round up the rest of the squad. I know some guys who will pay handsomely for the lot of you." With that said, Mercury darted away to track down the other half of Fox Squad.

"Well, this isn't good…" Sandy commented, his large ears drooping.

"It sure ain't," Cliff agreed, sighing heavily, then looking towards River. "Any ideas, boss?"

"The others are all going solo," River recalled. "We need to warn them of the situation. You should be the one to contact them, Cliff."

"Right," Cliff agreed, putting his headphones on as he managed to get into contact with all walkie-talkies connected to his own.

" _Fox Squad, this is Cliff,"_ he said, heard by all. _"There's a situation on our end which has changed the plan greatly. Mercury has trapped us all in our own net, and he's coming after you all one by one. Be on your guard. Don't let him take you all out. Group up if you can, and then take him out when he makes his approach."_

…

Blizzard received the message from Cliff, as did everyone else, so he was quick to use his own walkie-talkie to communicate with his team. "Right, squad, you heard the news," he began. "Our trap's out, and Mercury is likely to already be hot on our tails. If he took out that whole group, it might not be best for us to try grouping up. Some of us might not even make it without being found by our target. Thorn, I want you to go back and free the others. The rest of us will continue to search alone, and once one of us encounters Mercury, we'll switch on our walkie-talkie to allow others to track us down. Is that understood?"

" _Yes,"_ each member of Blizzard's team answered.

"Good," Blizzard ended, then continuing on with his own search for Mercury. His ears were as pointed as they could be, and he was making sure to listen out for any out-of-place sounds.

…

Rang's lightbulbs flickered as he sat in his living room, with Striker stood not far away from him. The jackal was scratching his own head as he listened to the muted yelling coming from the basement.

"Tell Zero he's gonna be paying for this month's electricity," Rang growled, not seeming too comfortable with what was going on beneath his feet.

"I don't think he'd agree to do that," Striker shrugged. "He pays you by keeping you safe, remember? And sometimes he pays you some money if we get plenty of it on one job."

"He's wasting my electricity on some robot which really shouldn't be in my house," Rang reminded. "It's one thing to have a group of mercenaries under my roof, but harbouring one of Eggman's robots is a whole other story in itself."

"We won't be keeping it here for too long," Striker assured with a smile, scratching his scarred nose. "Once we know enough about it, we'll either be selling it to whoever we can find or we'll even try getting some money from the doctor himself."

"Sounds dangerous," Rang murmured. "I've heard that Eggman doesn't play nice."

"Neither do we," Striker grinned as the yelling from the basement continued. Rang could see that the jackal was right.

 **~End of Chapter~**


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